Snobs vs. Slobs

With the Sox increasing their playoff odds quite a bit and the Cubs having one of the strangest games of the year (extra innings! hit pitchers! lots of hits!), it is probably time to get our readership primed for the 2006 football season. (more…)

Everyone’s Favorite Genius, Dusty Baker, has learned nothing.

Baker basically repeated his oft-quoted opposition to on-base percentage in an article in the Chicago Daily Herald on Friday. If you’ve never read that infamous quote, I’ll reprint it here for your reading pleasure/horror:

“I think walks are overrated unless you can run,” Baker said. “If you get a walk and put the pitcher in a stretch, that helps. But the guy who walks and can’t run, most of the time they’re clogging up the bases for somebody who can run.”

That kind of talk is nothing short of heresy for those in the OBP-is-king camp. Baker, an old-school sort, doesn’t seem to mind.

“Who’s been the champions the last seven, eight years?” he asked “Have you ever heard the Yankees talk about on-base percentage and walks? Walks help. But you ain’t going to walk across the plate. You’re going to hit across the plate. That’s the school I come from.

“It’s called hitting, and it ain’t called walking. Do you ever see the top 10 walking? You see top 10 batting average. A lot of those top 10 do walk. But the name of the game is to hit.”

In addition to having problems with the Minnesota Twins, we are having trouble here with the series of tubes that make up our Internet (MP3 of Senator Bridge to Nowhere’s speech “explaining the Internet” right here). A whole week of blog posts have mysteriously disappeared. So, if you’re looking for anything from the dates of Aug. 18 until Aug. 25, they ain’t on our main page nor our monthly archives.

My “tubes” knowledge isn’t vast enough to even begin to figure out where everything got messed up, so here are the post dates in which you can find the phantom posts:

• Aug. 18 (“Ozzie Guillen’s very lucky but very stupid move (or, why the intentional walk is dumb)”)
• Aug. 21 (“The Tigers continue to make themselves worse”)
• Aug. 22 (“Cubs Second Half in Review (So Far)” and “First Pitch Express Leaves Station”)
• Aug. 23 (“Say goodbye to the division title (and probably the playoffs)”)

I’ve got the entire staff looking into the problems with the tubes. We’ve got pipe cleaners and plenty of Drain-O, but I cannot give a time in which we’ll figure this out. Please bear with us in our tube maintenance.

Cesar Izturis is on the DL with a strained hamstring, and he hasn’t been hitting at all since joining the Cubs; he’s 14 for his first 60, with just 2 of those hits gonig for extra bases (doubles both). He’s drawn five walks and struck out six times. (.233 AVG/.292 OBP/.267 SLG)

What did Everyone’s Favorite Genius have to say about Izturis hitting the DL?

“He wasn’t injured when we got him,” Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. “It was something that had bothered him some in the past.”

What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is that a riddle, Dusty Baker style?

It’s still far too early to bring out the bragging sticks on calling that the Izturis deal would be a horrific disaster for the Cubs, but this is clearly the first domino to drop.

Just a week ago, White Sox fans were ecstatic with a dominant sweep of the Detroit Tigers. Hell, I brought up the possibility that the Sox could get back in the division race.

Now, not so much. Not even a shiny-ass $75 hat (sorry, had to put that ridiculous link in there) can make Sox fans happy right now. (more…)

Due to a busy work schedule and otherwise, I’ve fallen off the table on my Cubs week/month in review posts. I’m going to try to continue them down the stretch. I’ve got some time today, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to look at the Cubs’ second half, and examine if they’ve really turned it around. (more…)

The Cubs did something they haven’t done in a long time Sunday: they made a trade that will make the Cubs a better team.

Yes, friends, it’s true. Neifi Perez – aka the First Pitch Express, the Hitless Wonder, the Out Machine, or just plain Neifi! – is no longer a Cub, and this blogger couldn’t be happier about it. (more…)

Never mind that the Sox just lost two of three to the hated Twins. Forget that Javy Vazquez continues to suck. Forget that the Bear offense looked totally lost on Friday night. Life is good.

Why? The Tigers traded a no-name minor league catcher for Neifi “The First-Pitch Express” Perez yesterday (link here and make sure to check out the quality photo in the story) in a move that makes no sense for the Kitties. (more…)

As in life, hindsight is always 20/20 in sports. The Joe Morgans of the world love to give managers credit whenever a move ends up in a win, however stupid. When a baserunner ends up in a rundown (obviously, a big-time gaffe) and the defenders botch the rundown, Morgan (and other product-based analysts) will laude the runner’s “aggressiveness.” (more…)

For writing this column (subscription to ESPN insider required): “Cubs having a big problem with walks” An excerpt, for those of you without ESPN Insider access: (more…)